Associating collections with subjects

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are various embodiments for presenting collections of items related to subjects in a performance to viewers. The collections are assumed to be identified prior to the performance by individuals with knowledge of subjects expected to appear in the performance. The subject&#39;s appearance may be detected based on a user input indicating the appearance or by a subject recognition algorithm. The collections may be presented to a customer in a display also rendering the performance or in a separate display. The customer may select the collections and/or items therein for performing an action with the item, such as, for example purchasing the item.

BACKGROUND

Performances often inspire viewers to purchase items seen in theperformance. Individuals may encounter difficulty identifying theseitems or similar items. Manufacturers of the items may want to presentthe viewer with collections of the items or similar items, but may notbe able to do this during the performance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood withreference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings arenot necessarily to scale, with emphasis instead being placed uponclearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in thedrawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a drawing of a networked environment according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, and 2E are drawings of examples of a userinterface rendered by a client in the networked environment of FIG. 1according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are flowcharts illustrating examples offunctionality implemented as portions of item collection system 115executed in a computing environment in the networked environment of FIG.1 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram that provides one exampleillustration of a computing environment employed in the networkedenvironment of FIG. 1 according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Individuals often view performances. For example, individuals watchawards shows, movies, commercials, television shows, and other events.Performances may be observed through a device or in person. Theseperformances depict subjects, such as, for example, people, structures,animals, vehicles, rooms, buildings, and other subjects. These subjectsare often associated with items. For example, an actress in an awardsperformance may be wearing items such as a necklace, earrings, and adress. Another example of items associated with a subject may befurniture seen in a room during a performance. The items may beavailable for purchase. For instance, clothing, jewelry, accessories,furniture, paint, décor, and other items may be purchased through anelectronic commerce system. The present disclosure relates to displayingcollections of items associated with subjects to customers when thesubject appears in a performance to facilitate purchase of such items orto provide information with the electronic commerce system 116 withrespect to such items as will be described.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure enable associatingcollections of items with subjects in performances by defining thecollection before the performance. The collection may be defined by anindividual with knowledge of the subjects that will appear and the itemsthat will be associated with the respective subjects. For example, amerchant may know that an actress will wear certain jewelry in an awardsshow or a representative may know that a newscaster will wear a certainsuit during the newscast. Such items may be included in collections thatmay be stored in a data store. During a performance, upon an indicationthat the subject has appeared in the performance, the collection may bepresented to the user. For example, a user may click a button indicatingthat the actress has appeared in the awards show. Or the actress mayhave been detected by automated subject recognition.

In various embodiments, the user may view the performance in person orthrough a device. For example, the user may be an attendee at the awardsshow or may be viewing the awards show through a television or otherdevice capable of displaying performances. In various embodiments, boththe user at the administrator client and the user at the customer clientmay be present at the performance, only one of them may be present whilethe other observes the performance remotely through a device, or neithermay be present at the performance.

The collection may then be added to a user interface rendered for acustomer watching the awards show where the customer may click on thecollections and/or items in the collection to perform some action, suchas, for example, purchase the collection and/or items. Furthermore, atime, such as, for example, timestamp since the beginning of theperformance, of when the subject appeared may be stored so that thecollection may be presented to the user upon appearance of the subjectwhen a recorded version of the performance is replayed in the future.

In the following discussion, a general description of the system and itscomponents is provided, followed by a discussion of the operation of thesame.

With reference to FIG. 1, shown is a networked environment 100 accordingto various embodiments. The networked environment 100 includes acomputing environment 103, an administrator client device 105, andcustomer client device 107, which are in data communication with eachother via a network 109. The network 109 includes, for example, theInternet, intranets, extranets, wide area networks (WANs), local areanetworks (LANs), wired networks, wireless networks, or other suitablenetworks, etc., or any combination of two or more such networks.

The computing environment 103 may comprise, for example, a servercomputer or any other system providing computing capability.Alternatively, the computing environment 103 may employ a plurality ofcomputing devices that may be employed that are arranged, for example,in one or more server banks or computer banks or other arrangements.Such computing devices may be located in a single installation or may bedistributed among many different geographical locations. For example,the computing environment 103 may include a plurality of computingdevices that together may comprise a cloud computing resource, a gridcomputing resource, and/or any other distributed computing arrangement.In some cases, the computing environment 103 may correspond to anelastic computing resource where the allotted capacity of processing,network, storage, or other computing-related resources may vary overtime.

Various applications and/or other functionality may be executed in thecomputing environment 103 according to various embodiments. Also,various data is stored in a data store 112 that is accessible to thecomputing environment 103. The data store 112 may be representative of aplurality of data stores 112 as can be appreciated. The data stored inthe data store 112, for example, is associated with the operation of thevarious applications and/or functional entities described below.

The components executed on the computing environment 103, for example,include the item collection system 115, an electronic commerce system116, and other applications, services, processes, systems, engines, orfunctionality not discussed in detail herein. The item collection system115 is executed to associate collections of items with subjects viewedin performances.

The electronic commerce system 116 is executed to facilitate thepurchase of items over network 109. The electronic commerce system 116also performs various backend functions associated with the onlinepresence of a merchant or electronic marketplace to facilitate theonline purchase of items. For example, the electronic commerce system116 may generate network pages or portions thereof that are provided tothe administrator client 105 and/or the customer client 107 for thepurposes of selecting items for purchase, rental, download, lease, orother forms of consumption.

The data stored in the data store 112 includes, for example, itemcatalog 121, collections 124, and potentially other data. Eachcollection 124 may include data related to collections of items seen inperformances. For example, a collection 124 may include one or moreitems 127, a subject 131 associated with the collection 124, and one ormore timestamps 134 when the subject was observed in the performance.Each timestamp 134 may be a time that associates the collection 124 withthe performance when the subject 131 appeared. If the subject appearsmultiple times in the performance, multiple timestamps 134 may bestored.

The item catalog 121 contains various data regarding items in a catalog.Such items may correspond to products, goods, services, downloads, andso on, which may be offered for order by one or more merchants by way ofan electronic commerce system. The various data regarding each item mayinclude name, description, price, genre, subgenre, categories, images,videos, tax categories, options, shipping categories, and so on.

The administrator client 105 is representative of a plurality of clientdevices that may be coupled to the network 109. The administrator client105 may comprise, for example, a processor-based system such as acomputer system. Such a computer system may be embodied in the form of adesktop computer, a laptop computer, personal digital assistants,cellular telephones, smartphones, set-top boxes, music players, webpads, tablet computer systems, game consoles, electronic book readers,or other devices with like capability. The administrator client 105 mayinclude an administrator display 167. The administrator display 167 maycomprise, for example, one or more devices such as liquid crystaldisplay (LCD) displays, gas plasma-based flat panel displays, organiclight emitting diode (OLED) displays, LCD projectors, or other types ofdisplay devices, etc.

The administrator client 105 may be configured to execute variousapplications such as an administrator client application 164 and/orother applications. The administrator client application 164 may beexecuted in an administrator client 105, for example, to access networkcontent served up by the computing environment 103 and/or other servers,thereby rendering an administrator user interface 177 on theadministrator display 167. To this end, the administrator clientapplication 164 may comprise, for example, a browser, a dedicatedapplication, etc., and the administrator user interface 177 may comprisea network page, an application screen, etc. The administrator client 105may be configured to execute applications beyond the administratorclient 105 such as, for example, email applications, social networkingapplications, word processors, spreadsheets, and/or other applications.

The customer client 107 is representative of a plurality of clientdevices that may be coupled to the network 109. The customer client 107may comprise, for example, a processor-based system such as a computersystem. Such a computer system may be embodied in the form of a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, personal digital assistants, cellulartelephones, smartphones, set-top boxes, music players, web pads, tabletcomputer systems, game consoles, electronic book readers, or otherdevices with like capability. The customer client 107 may include acustomer display 174. The customer display 174 may comprise, forexample, one or more devices such as liquid crystal display (LCD)displays, gas plasma-based flat panel displays, organic light emittingdiode (OLED) displays, LCD projectors, or other types of displaydevices, etc.

The customer client 107 may be configured to execute variousapplications such as a customer client application 171 and/or otherapplications. The customer client application 171 may be executed in acustomer client 107, for example, to access network content served up bythe computing environment 103 and/or other servers, thereby rendering acustomer user interface 181 on the customer display 174. To this end,the customer client application 171 may comprise, for example, abrowser, a dedicated application, etc., and the customer user interface181 may comprise a network page, an application screen, etc. Thecustomer client 107 may be configured to execute applications beyond thecustomer client application 171 such as, for example, emailapplications, social networking applications, word processors,spreadsheets, and/or other applications.

Next, a general description of the operation of the various componentsof the networked environment 100 is provided. To begin, users at thecustomer client 107 may observe performances, on the customer display174 through a customer user interface 181, on another device capable ofdisplaying performances, such as, for example, a television, or inperson at a live event. Performances may be, for example, awards shows,news shows, sports events, television shows, movies, commercials,concerts, or other events observed by people.

Prior to the performance, collections 124 of items 127 related tosubjects 131 that are expected to appear in the performance have beendefined. Subjects 131 may be, for instance, people, animals, clothes,vehicles, furniture, or other objects seen in performances. Collections124 may include any related items 127, such as, for example, jewelry andclothes worn by a person or similar to those worn by a person,accessories depicted on a vehicle and/or the vehicle itself, furnituredecorating a home, or other items related to subjects seen inperformances. The items may have been input by a user at anadministrator client device 105 and/or selected from the item catalog121.

When watching a performance, the user at the administrator client 105initiates an administrator client application 164 that establishes aconnection with the item collection system 115. The administrator clientapplication 164 is configured to present input components to users atthe administrator client 105 so that the user may provide an indicationwhen a new subject has appeared in a performance and what items 127should be included in the collection. Also, the user at the customerclient 107 initiates a customer client application 171 that establishesa connection with the item collection system 115. The customer clientapplication 171 obtains a list of performances being viewed by the userand sends this list to the item collection system 127. The customerclient application 171 is configured to present collections 124 of items127 to users so that the user may select collections 124 and/or items127 associated with the subjects in the performance(s) and performactions, such as, for example, purchase the collections 124 and/or items127.

During the performance, the item collection system 115 may receive inputfrom a user at an administrator client 105 through a selection in anadministrator user interface 177 that indicates a particular subject hasappeared in the performance. In various embodiments, this input may alsocome from a customer client 107. Alternatively, the item collectionsystem 115 may perform subject detection to identify a subject uponappearance in the performance corresponding to subject 131 in the data.When the subject appears, the item collection system 115 may send thecollection 124 or some selection of items 127 in the collection 124 tothe customer client 107 for display in a collection display panel to theuser at the customer client 107. The collection display panel depictscollections 124 related to some or all subjects 131 seen in theperformance. The collection display panel allows the user to navigate toprevious collections and interact with those items while still updatingwith new collections received from the item collection system 115.Additionally, the collection display panel may appear in a portion ofthe display on which the performance media is rendered or on a separatedevice.

Once the items are displayed, the user at the customer client 107 mayselect an item or items for further action. For example, the user mayseek to purchase the item, add the item to a wish list, learn more aboutthe item, or perform some other action related to items. The itemcollection system 115 may store the time since the beginning of theperformance at which the subject was seen in the performance in the datastore 112 as an timestamp 134 so that the collection 124 may be viewedat the same time as the subject appears during replay without performingsubject detection or otherwise requiring input of when the subjectappears.

As a non-limiting example, a viewer of the evening news on a televisionmay have a cellphone as a customer client 107 that has a customerdisplay 174 with a customer user interface 181 depicting a collectiondisplay panel. In other embodiments, the collection display panel may bedepicted as a sidebar on the television at the top, bottom, side, orother area of the screen. Prior to the evening news, it is assumed thata collection 124 has been stored in the data store 112 for the newsanchor subject 131 that includes items 127, such as a BrandA necklace,BrandA earrings, BrandB blazer, BrandC pants, and BrandD shoes.

Continuing the non-limiting example, when the news anchor appears on theevening news, the item collection system 115 performs subject detectionto detect the presence of the subject. The subject may be detected by aninput from an administrator indicating the presence of the subject or byautomated subject detection. The subject may be identified as the newsanchor by input from the administrator or by subject recognition.Subject recognition may comprise facial recognition algorithms or otherrecognition systems. In various embodiments, the item collection system115 may recognize the subject as the exact news anchor. Alternatively,the item collection system 115 may provide a narrowed list of subjects131 to the administrator client 105 for display in an administrator userinterface 177 of subjects expected to appear in the evening news for theadministrator to select the news anchor.

Continuing the non-limiting example, once the item collection system 115has identified the subject 131 as the news anchor, it obtains thecollection 124 associated with the news anchor from the data store 112.It may obtain a selection of certain items 127 in the collection 124from the administrator client 124, depending on what the news anchor iswearing or other criteria for which items to include in the collection124 sent to the customer client 107. In various embodiments, the itemcollection system 115 may identify the collection associated with thenews anchor based on the collection 124 in the data store 112. Thecollection is sent to the customer client 107 for display in thecollection display panel customer user interface 181.

Because there may be many subjects in a performance, the collectiondisplay panel may still depict the collection for the weatherforecaster, with the news anchor's collection added to the left, right,above, or below the weather forecaster's collection. To navigate betweenmany collections, the user may scroll, click a navigation input, orotherwise change the view of the collection display panel to see othercollections. For example, the user may scroll through previouslyrendered collections by clicking a navigation arrow in a user interfaceto view collections to the left, right, above, or below the collectionor collections currently visible. In other examples, the user may shiftthe focus of the display to another area to navigate to othercollections.

Continuing the non-limiting example, the viewer at customer client 107may select the earrings in the collection display panel by touching thecustomer display 174 for a touch screen device by manipulating a cursoror performing some other action to select an item. Once selected, theitem collection system 115 may initiate a purchase of the earrings bycommunicating with the electronic commerce system 116 to add theearrings to a shopping cart based on the viewer's preference.Alternatively, in various embodiments, the item collection system 115may communicate with the electronic commerce system 116 or itself addthe earrings to a wish list, display a network page depicting detailsabout the earrings, or perform some other action.

In an alternative embodiment, the performance may be a live eventwithout a broadcast to remote locations. For example, the performancemay be a music concert, theatre play, football game, or other liveperformance with attendees in an audience. In this embodiment, the userat the administrator client 105 is an observer at the performancepresent at the performance to provide an indication of when a newsubject appears in the performance. For example, at a Rolling Stonesconcert, the user at the administrator client 105 may indicate when MickJagger appears on stage at the concert. The administrator client 105 maybe any device present at the performance. The administrator client 105depicts the administrator user interface 177, but not the performancebecause the performance is a live event not currently broadcast.

In various embodiments, the administrator client 105 may automaticallyobtain an indication of which subject is currently viewed in theperformance. For example, instead of a user providing an input, theadministrator client 105 would take a picture that would be used toperform subject recognition. An administrator client application 164 mayperform subject recognition or the automatically obtained indication maybe sent to the item collection system 115 to perform subjectrecognition. Continuing the concert example, when Mick Jagger appears inthe performance, the administrator client 105 takes a picture of MickJagger and sends the picture to the item collection system 115 acrossthe network 109.

The customer client 107 depicts the collection display panel, but notthe performance. The user at the customer client 107 may be present atthe performance or elsewhere. Continuing the concert example, thecustomer may be a huge fan of Mick Jagger and seek to view collectionsof items related to Mick Jagger's performance whatever he is on stage.Thus the customer views the collection display panel customer userinterface 181 to observe collections related to Mick Jagger during hisperformances, even if the customer is not present at the performance.Alternatively, the customer may be present at the performance andviewing the same subjects as the user at the administrator client 105.

Upon an indication of the new subject in the performance at theadministrator client 105, the item collection system 115 obtains theindication and associates the collection with the new subject. Thecollection can be predetermined and sent to a client when the subjectappears or it may be determined based on analysis of an indicationobtained from the administrator client 105. For example, item collectionsystem 115 may obtain the picture from the administrator client 105 andautomatically recognize the subject and the collection. Continuing theconcert example, if Mick Jagger is wearing leather pants and a redshirt, the item collection system may recognize and select a collection124 of leather pants and a red shirt to be sent to the customer client107 for display in the collection display panel customer user interface181. Alternatively or in addition, the item collection system 115 mayobtain a predetermined collection 124 from the data store 112 associatedwith Mick Jagger. The collection is then sent to the customer client 107for display in the collection display panel customer user interface 181.

Turning now to FIG. 2A, shown is one example of an administrator userinterface 177, denoted herein as an administrator user interface 177 a,rendered by an administrator client application 164 (FIG. 1) executed inan administrator client 105 (FIG. 1) in the networked environment 100(FIG. 1) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Theadministrator user interface 177 a includes a network page 203 depictingcollections that may be selected to add to be rendered in a collectiondisplay panel. The network page 203 provides an input component 206 forthe user of the administrator client 105 to indicate when Kate appearsin the performance. For example, when Kate appears in a liveperformance, the user may click the input component 206. In variousembodiments, the user may indicate the initial appearance of the subjectand then stop or continue to indicate the presence of the subject untilthe subject no longer appears in the performance. Each of the inputcomponents 206, 212, and 221 may be selected multiple times if thesubject associated with that collection appears repeatedly during theperformance.

The user's indication may be obtained by the item collection system 115(FIG. 1) across the network 109 as a trigger to send the collection to acustomer client for inclusion in the collection display panel. Thenetwork page 203 also provides an input component 209 for the user toindicate whether to include the evening gown item in the collection. Itis assumed that the evening gown was identified as part of Kate'scollection 124 (FIG. 1) as an item 127 (FIG. 1) prior to theperformance. Similarly, the network page 203 provides an input component212 for indicating when to add Vivian's collection to the collectiondisplay panel. In this example depiction, the user deselected theTarcier Ring and Namilo Heels items 127 to indicate that they should notbe included in the collection and selected the Dee Evening Gown, TarcierEarrings, and Tarcier Necklace items 127 to indicate that they should beincluded in the collection. Once a subject has appeared, the itemcollection system 115 may then store the user's selections from theitems 127 in the data store 112 (FIG. 1).

Continuing with FIG. 2A, the network page 203 provides a scrolling input227 for the user to browse to other collections for indicating thatother subjects have appeared. The collections associated with Kate,Vivian, and Josh are currently displayed, but the user may select thescrolling input 227 to navigate to other collections. In variousembodiments, this ability may comprise other mechanisms of movingbetween collections, such as, for example, swiping across the screen,hovering an input device at a certain location or locations on thescreen, or other input methods that indicate a desire to move to othercollections available for depiction. Finally, in various embodiments,the collections available for selection may be determined by the itemcollection system 115 (FIG. 1) based on an automated subject recognitionanalysis of the performance. For example, the item collection system 115may narrow the available collections 124 to a select number of subjects131 that could be the subject appearing in the performance.

Moving on to FIG. 2B, shown is one example of a customer user interface181, denoted herein as customer user interface 181 a, rendered by acustomer client application 171 (FIG. 1) executed in an customer client107 (FIG. 1) in the networked environment 100 (FIG. 1) according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. The customer user interface 181 aincludes a network page 251 depicting the performance. The customer userinterface 181 a also includes a collection display panel 254 displayingthe collections 124 associated with subjects 131 (FIG. 1) Kate andVivian who have appeared in the performance seen in the network page251. When Kate appeared in the performance, the user indicated that shewas wearing a dress by selecting the dress indicator 209 (FIG. 2A). Theitem collection system 115 (FIG. 1) obtained the collection 124 anddress item 127 associated with Kate as a subject 131 from the data store112 to send to the customer client 107 to add to the collection displaypanel 254.

Continuing with FIG. 2B, currently on screen in the performance is thesubject 257 Vivian. Seen on Vivian are items 127 (FIG. 1) includingearrings 127 a, a necklace 127 b, and a dress 127 c. During Vivian'sappearance in the performance, the item collection system 115 obtainedthe indicator of Vivian's appearance from the input component 206 (FIG.2A) and sent the collection 124 associated with Vivian as a subject 131to the customer client 107 to add to the collection display panel 254.Alternatively, Vivian's appearance in the performance may have beendetected by the item collection system 115 by automated subjectrecognition. The collection 124 also includes items 127 ring and heelsbut since the items were not selected in the network page 203 (FIG. 2B)using the corresponding indicators, the item collection system 115 didnot send those items 127 to the customer client 107. Corresponding tothese worn by Vivian is Vivian's collection 281 consisting of earrings127 a, a necklace 127 b, and a dress 127 c. The collection 281 may bethe exact items worn by Vivian or ones similar to the items worn byVivian, as predefined in the data store 112 (FIG. 1) in collection 124(FIG. 1) and items 127 (FIG. 1). The user may select the collections 271and 281 and/or the individual items 127 in the collections to performactions 258, such as, for example, purchasing the collections and/oritems, adding the items and/or collections to a list, or other action.

Continuing with FIG. 2B, the user may select the scroll bar 291 tonavigate to other collections 124 (FIG. 1) related to subjects 131(FIG. 1) who have previously been viewed in the performance in thenetwork page 251. In various embodiments, the collection display panel254 may allow for navigation in other ways, such as, for example,swiping the screen, hovering or selecting a navigational input, or otherway of navigating between collections depicted in the collection displaypanel 254.

Referring next to FIG. 2C, shown is one example of a customer userinterface 181, denoted herein as customer user interface 181 b, renderedby a customer client application 171 (FIG. 1) executed in an customerclient 107 (FIG. 1) in the networked environment 100 (FIG. 1) accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure. The customer user interface181 b includes a collection display panel 307 displaying the collections124 associated with subjects 131 (FIG. 1) Kate and Vivian who haveappeared in the broadcast 292. Also shown is a broadcast 292 depictingthe performance in a display separate from the collection display panel307. The subject 294 Vivian is shown in the broadcast 292 wearing items127 (FIG. 1) including earrings 127 d, a necklace 127 e, and a dress 127f. Therefore, the item collection system 115 (FIG. 1) sent Vivian'scollection 124 to the collection display panel 307 to display thecollection 124 with earrings 127 d, a necklace 127 e, and a dress 127 fthat relate to or are the same as the items 127 worn by Vivian. Theitems 127 seen as part of the collection 124 in the collection displaypanel customer user interface 181 b were defined prior to theperformance and stored as a collection 124 and items 127. The collectiondisplay panel customer user interface 181 b provides the user theability to navigate to other collections by selecting the arrow inputs331 and 334. The user may select items 127 and collections 124 in thecollection display panel and then perform an action 335 with the item,such as, for example, adding the items and/or collections to a list,viewing detail pages about the items and/or collections, purchasing theitems and/or collections, or other action.

Referring next to FIG. 2D, shown is one example of a customer userinterface 181, denoted herein as customer user interface 181 c, renderedby a customer client application 171 (FIG. 1) executed in an customerclient 107 (FIG. 1) in the networked environment 100 (FIG. 1) accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure. The customer user interface181 c includes a collection display panel 370 displaying the collections124 associated with subjects 131 (FIG. 1) Kate and Vivian who haveappeared in the live performance 390. Also shown is a performance 390depicting the performance in real life. The subject 394 Vivian is shownin the live performance 390 wearing items 127 (FIG. 1) includingearrings 127 g, a necklace 127 h, and a dress 127 i. Therefore, the itemcollection system 115 (FIG. 1) sent Vivian's collection 124 to thecollection display panel 370 to display the collection 124 with earrings127 g, a necklace 127 h, and a dress 127 i that relate to or are thesame as the items 127 worn by Vivian. The items 127 seen as part of thecollection 124 in the collection display panel customer user interface181 c were defined prior to the performance and stored as a collection124 and items 127. The collection display panel customer user interface181 c provides the user the ability to navigate to other collections byselecting the arrow inputs 381 and 384. The user may select items 127and collections 124 in the collection display panel and then perform anaction 385 with the item, such as, for example, adding the items and/orcollections to a list, viewing detail pages about the items and/orcollections, purchasing the items and/or collections, or other action.

Turning now to FIG. 2E, shown is one example of a customer userinterface 181, denoted herein as customer user interface 181 c,generated in part by an electronic commerce system 116 (FIG. 1) to berendered in a customer client 107 (FIG. 1) in the networked environment100 (FIG. 1) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Thecustomer user interface 181 c comprises a network page 351 providing aview of a shopping cart 354 where the user has selected the necklaceitem 127 b (FIG. 2B) or necklace item 127 e (FIG. 2C) in a collectiondisplay panel to purchase. As a result, a necklace 361 from the itemcatalog 121 (FIG. 1) has been added to the items to buy list 357. TheTarcier Necklace 364, as opposed to another brand or style of necklace,was added to the cart based on the item 127 (FIG. 1) added to thecollection 124 (FIG. 1) prior to the performance. From there, theelectronic commerce system 116 may facilitate the purchase pipeline oncethe user selects to proceed to checkout 365.

Referring next to FIG. 3A, shown is a flowchart that provides oneexample of the operation of a portion of the item collection system 115according to various embodiments. It is understood that the flowchart ofFIG. 3A provides merely an example of the many different types offunctional arrangements that may be employed to implement the operationof the portion of the item collection system 115 as described herein. Asan alternative, the flowchart of FIG. 3A may be viewed as depicting anexample of steps of a method implemented in the computing environment103 (FIG. 1) according to one or more embodiments.

The flowchart of FIG. 3A provides an example of the item collectionsystem 115 detecting the appearance of subjects in performances throughan indication in an administrator user interface 177 (FIG. 1) renderedin an administrator client 105 (FIG. 1). The user at the administratorclient 105 provides an indication by, for example, clicking an inputcomponent while the subject appears in the performance. The itemcollection system 115 uses this indication as a trigger for timestampingwhen the subject appears and for when to send a collection 124 (FIG. 1)to a customer client device 107 (FIG. 1) for display in a collectiondisplay panel.

Beginning in box 404, the item collection system 115 communicates withthe administrator client 105 to initiate a user interface. The userinterface depicts predefined collections 124 (FIG. 1) associated withsubjects 131 (FIG. 1) expected to be viewed in a performance. Theperformance may be, for example, an awards show, news broadcast,television show, movie, commercial, or any event observed by viewers.The subjects 131 may be people, animals, vehicles, buildings, or otherobjects often viewed in performances. The collections may have beendefined by a merchant, manufacturer, performance representative,stylist, or other individual who knows what subjects will be seen in theperformance and what items 127 (FIG. 1) will be associated with thoseseen in connection with the subject. The user of the administratorclient device indicates when a new subject appears in the performance.The user may be the same as the user of a customer client device 107 ifthe administrator and customer is the same individual. For example, anindividual observing an awards show may indicate, in the user interface,that a certain actor has appeared on the screen to accept an award. Thatsame individual may also be a customer if the individual uses thecollection display panel user interface to select an item in thecollection related to the actor for purchase.

The user at the administrator device may view the performance through adevice. Alternatively, the user may be present at the location of theperformance. For example, in the case of a music concert, the user maybe an attendee at the concert, or the user may be viewing the concertfrom another location through a device, such as through a computer. Ineither situation, the user at the administrator has an administratorclient device 105 through which the user may indicate in anadministrator user interface 177 that a new subject has appeared in theperformance.

In box 414, the item collection system 115 evaluates whether a newsubject has appeared in the performance based on whether a message wasreceived from the administrator client 105 indicating that there hasbeen a corresponding indication input manipulated in the administratoruser interface 177 (FIG. 1). Upon receipt of the message indicating anew subject has appeared, the item collection system 115 obtains theselection of items in the collection associated with the subject fromthe administrator client device in box 417. In various embodiments, theitem collection system 115 may obtain a message from the administratorclient 105 comprising a selection in the administrator user interface177 indicating all of the collection 124 (FIG. 1) should be presented tothe customer or just some items 127.

For example, if a newscaster appears wearing all of the items in thecollection that was defined prior to the newscast by the merchant, thenthe administrator may click a button in the administrator user interfaceto display the whole collection associated with the newscaster to acustomer. But if the newscaster does not wear a ring expected to beseen, the administrator may unselect the ring and only indicate theremainder of the items should be displayed to the customer.Alternatively, the item collection system 115 may show the entireselection without requiring the selection of items 127 by theadministrator client. If a new subject has not appeared in theperformance, then the item collection system 115 continues to box 424.

In box 422, the item collection system 115 stores the items selected bythe administrator as appearing in the performance and the timestamp atwhich the subject associated with the items appeared in the performancein the data store 112 (FIG. 1). This facilitates replaying theperformance in the future and adding collections to the collectiondisplay panel at the time or soon thereafter when the subject appears inthe performance without the need for an administrator indicating theappearance.

In box 424, the item collection system 115 evaluates whether theperformance is complete. If it is not, it returns to box 414 to continueto evaluate whether new subjects have appeared and to add thecollections to the collection display panel. If the performance hasended, thereafter, this portion of the item collection system 115 ends.

Referring next to FIG. 3B, shown is a flowchart that provides oneexample of the operation of another portion of the item collectionsystem 115 according to various embodiments. It is understood that theflowchart of FIG. 3B provides merely an example of the many differenttypes of functional arrangements that may be employed to implement theoperation of the portion of the item collection system 115 as describedherein. As an alternative, the flowchart of FIG. 3B may be viewed asdepicting an example of steps of a method implemented in the computingenvironment 103 (FIG. 1) according to one or more embodiments.

The flowchart of FIG. 3B depicts the steps of sending collections 124(FIG. 1) to a customer client 107 (FIG. 1) upon detection of a newsubject 131 (FIG. 1) in a performance for rendering in a collectiondisplay panel user interface 182 (FIG. 1). The collection display paneluser interface 182 is rendered in a customer client 107 for display to acustomer upon appearance of a subject 131 in performances being viewedby the customer. Either prior to viewing or while viewing performances,the user at the customer client 107 initiates a customer clientapplication 171 (FIG. 1) that establishes a connection with the itemcollection system 115 and identifies the performances being viewed.

Beginning with box 441, the item collection system 115 communicates withthe customer client 107 device to initiate rendering the collectiondisplay panel in response to the customer client 107 registering withthe item collection system 115. In box 447, the item collection system115 evaluates whether a new subject 131 has been detected in aperformance. Subject detection may be done in a variety of ways. One wayto detect a subject may be through an administrator's input in anadministrator client 105 (FIG. 1). The input may be generated by, forexample, the user of the administrator client 105 clicking an input in auser interface, selecting an input in the user interface for the lengthof time that the subject is on the screen, as described above, or otherinput through the administrator client 105.

Another way the item collection system 115 may detect a subject may bethrough subject recognition. Subject recognition may comprise, forexample, facial recognition, object recognition, or other algorithm thatidentifies the detected subject as a subject 131. For example, the itemcollection system 115 may compare the characteristics of the detectedsubject to subjects 131 to identify which subject 131 is appearing inthe performance. If a new subject has not been detected in theperformance, then the item collection system 115 continues to box 457.

In box 453, the item collection system 115 identifies the collection 124(FIG. 1) associated with the recognized subject 131. It is assumed thatthe collection 124 was previously defined and stored in the data store112 (FIG. 1). The collection 124 may have been defined by an individualfamiliar with the subjects 131 (FIG. 1) expected to appear in theperformance, by the administrator using the administrator client 105, orother entity with knowledge of collections 124 associated with subjects131 appearing in the performance.

In box 454, the item collection system 115 sends the collection 124 tothe collection display panel customer user interface 181 for display toa customer. It is assumed that the customer client application 171 wasinitialized and interacting with the item collection system 115 togenerate the collection display panel customer user interface 181 and torender items 127 thereon.

In box 457, the item collection system 115 evaluates whether theperformance is complete. If not, it returns to box 447 to continue todetect subjects and add collections associated with the subjects to thecollection display panel. This portion of the item collection system 115ends thereafter.

Referring next to FIG. 3C, shown is a flowchart that provides oneexample of the operation of a portion of the item collection system 115according to various embodiments. It is understood that the flowchart ofFIG. 3C provides merely an example of the many different types offunctional arrangements that may be employed to implement the operationof the portion of the item collection system 115 as described herein. Asan alternative, the flowchart of FIG. 3C may be viewed as depicting anexample of steps of a method implemented in the computing environment103 (FIG. 1) according to one or more embodiments.

The flowchart of FIG. 3C depicts how the item collection system 115enables performing actions upon customer selection of items 127 (FIG. 1)in the collection display panel customer user interface 181 (FIG. 1) onthe customer client 107.

Beginning with box 471, the item collection system 115 obtains a messagefrom the customer client 107 (FIG. 1) indicating that a customer hasselected an item and/or collection within in the collection displaypanel customer user interface 181. It is assumed that the customerclient 107 has initialized communications with the item collectionsystem 115 previously to facilitate this message.

In box 474, the item collection system initiates an action to performwith the item and/or collection. Actions may be, for example, displayingan item detail page related to the item selected, a purchase, adding theitem to a wish list or other list, or other action. The item collectionsystem 115 initiates the action by sending a message to an appropriatesystem or by performing the action itself. For example, the itemcollection system 115 may send a message to the electronic commercesystem 116 (FIG. 1) to initiate the purchase or to generate an itemdetail network page for rendering in the customer client 107.Alternatively, the manipulation of an input component may send a requestdirectly to the electronic commerce system 116 or other system foraction. This portion of the item collection system 115 ends thereafter.

With reference to FIG. 4, shown is a schematic block diagram of thecomputing environment 103 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The computing environment 103 includes one or more computingdevices 500. Each computing device 500 includes at least one processorcircuit, for example, having a processor 503 and a memory 506, both ofwhich are coupled to a local interface 509. To this end, each computingdevice 500 may comprise, for example, at least one server computer orlike device. The local interface 509 may comprise, for example, a databus with an accompanying address/control bus or other bus structure ascan be appreciated.

Stored in the memory 506 are both data and several components that areexecutable by the processor 503. In particular, stored in the memory 506and executable by the processor 503 are item collection system 115, andpotentially other applications. Also stored in the memory 506 may be adata store 112 and other data. In addition, an operating system may bestored in the memory 506 and executable by the processor 503.

It is understood that there may be other applications that are stored inthe memory 506 and are executable by the processor 503 as can beappreciated. Where any component discussed herein is implemented in theform of software, any one of a number of programming languages may beemployed such as, for example, C, C++, C#, Objective C, Java®,JavaScript®, Perl, PHP, Visual Basic®, Python®, Ruby, Flash®, or otherprogramming languages.

A number of software components are stored in the memory 506 and areexecutable by the processor 503. In this respect, the term “executable”means a program file that is in a form that can ultimately be run by theprocessor 503. Examples of executable programs may be, for example, acompiled program that can be translated into machine code in a formatthat can be loaded into a random access portion of the memory 506 andrun by the processor 503, source code that may be expressed in properformat such as object code that is capable of being loaded into a randomaccess portion of the memory 506 and executed by the processor 503, orsource code that may be interpreted by another executable program togenerate instructions in a random access portion of the memory 506 to beexecuted by the processor 503, etc. An executable program may be storedin any portion or component of the memory 506 including, for example,random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard drive,solid-state drive, USB flash drive, memory card, optical disc such ascompact disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, magnetictape, or other memory components.

The memory 506 is defined herein as including both volatile andnonvolatile memory and data storage components. Volatile components arethose that do not retain data values upon loss of power. Nonvolatilecomponents are those that retain data upon a loss of power. Thus, thememory 506 may comprise, for example, random access memory (RAM),read-only memory (ROM), hard disk drives, solid-state drives, USB flashdrives, memory cards accessed via a memory card reader, floppy disksaccessed via an associated floppy disk drive, optical discs accessed viaan optical disc drive, magnetic tapes accessed via an appropriate tapedrive, and/or other memory components, or a combination of any two ormore of these memory components. In addition, the RAM may comprise, forexample, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random accessmemory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM) and other suchdevices. The ROM may comprise, for example, a programmable read-onlymemory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), anelectrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or otherlike memory device.

Also, the processor 503 may represent multiple processors 503 and/ormultiple processor cores and the memory 506 may represent multiplememories 506 that operate in parallel processing circuits, respectively.In such a case, the local interface 509 may be an appropriate networkthat facilitates communication between any two of the multipleprocessors 503, between any processor 503 and any of the memories 506,or between any two of the memories 506, etc. The local interface 509 maycomprise additional systems designed to coordinate this communication,including, for example, performing load balancing. The processor 503 maybe of electrical or of some other available construction.

Although item collection system 115, and other various systems describedherein may be embodied in software or code executed by general purposehardware as discussed above, as an alternative the same may also beembodied in dedicated hardware or a combination of software/generalpurpose hardware and dedicated hardware. If embodied in dedicatedhardware, each can be implemented as a circuit or state machine thatemploys any one of or a combination of a number of technologies. Thesetechnologies may include, but are not limited to, discrete logiccircuits having logic gates for implementing various logic functionsupon an application of one or more data signals, application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs) having appropriate logic gates,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other components, etc. Suchtechnologies are generally well known by those skilled in the art and,consequently, are not described in detail herein.

The flowcharts of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show the functionality andoperation of an implementation of portions of the item collection system115. If embodied in software, each block may represent a module,segment, or portion of code that comprises program instructions toimplement the specified logical function(s). The program instructionsmay be embodied in the form of source code that comprises human-readablestatements written in a programming language or machine code thatcomprises numerical instructions recognizable by a suitable executionsystem such as a processor 503 in a computer system or other system. Themachine code may be converted from the source code, etc. If embodied inhardware, each block may represent a circuit or a number ofinterconnected circuits to implement the specified logical function(s).

Although the flowcharts of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show a specific order ofexecution, it is understood that the order of execution may differ fromthat which is depicted. For example, the order of execution of two ormore blocks may be scrambled relative to the order shown. Also, two ormore blocks shown in succession in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be executedconcurrently or with partial concurrence. Further, in some embodiments,one or more of the blocks shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be skippedor omitted. In addition, any number of counters, state variables,warning semaphores, or messages might be added to the logical flowdescribed herein, for purposes of enhanced utility, accounting,performance measurement, or providing troubleshooting aids, etc. It isunderstood that all such variations are within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

Also, any logic or application described herein, including itemcollection system 115, that comprises software or code can be embodiedin any non-transitory computer-readable medium for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system such as, for example, aprocessor 503 in a computer system or other system. In this sense, thelogic may comprise, for example, statements including instructions anddeclarations that can be fetched from the computer-readable medium andexecuted by the instruction execution system. In the context of thepresent disclosure, a “computer-readable medium” can be any medium thatcan contain, store, or maintain the logic or application describedherein for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem.

The computer-readable medium can comprise any one of many physical mediasuch as, for example, magnetic, optical, or semiconductor media. Morespecific examples of a suitable computer-readable medium would include,but are not limited to, magnetic tapes, magnetic floppy diskettes,magnetic hard drives, memory cards, solid-state drives, USB flashdrives, or optical discs. Also, the computer-readable medium may be arandom access memory (RAM) including, for example, static random accessmemory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or magneticrandom access memory (MRAM). In addition, the computer-readable mediummay be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM),an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electricallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or other type of memorydevice.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations setforth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure.Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-describedembodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit andprinciples of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure andprotected by the following claims.

Therefore, the following is claimed:
 1. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium embodying a program executable in at least onecomputing device, the program, when executed, causing the at least onecomputing device to at least: generate an administrator user interfaceconfigured to facilitate obtaining an indicator of a collection of aplurality of items related to a subject in a broadcast; cause theadministrator user interface to be transmitted to an administratorclient device associated with an administrator; obtain the indicator ofthe collection of the plurality of items related to the subject in thebroadcast via the administrator user interface rendered on theadministrator client device; detect a depiction of the subject in thebroadcast by applying a subject recognition algorithm to video data ofthe broadcast; generate a client user interface associated with anelectronic commerce system, the client user interface comprising acollection display panel, the collection display panel comprising,responsive to detecting the subject in the broadcast, the collection ofthe plurality of items related to the subject in the broadcast; causethe client user interface to be transmitted to a client deviceassociated with a viewer of the broadcast; obtain a client selection ofat least one of the plurality of items in the collection display panelvia the client user interface rendered on the client device; and performat least one of a plurality of actions based at least in part on theclient selection, wherein the actions comprise at least one of: addingthe client selection to a wish list; adding the client selection to ashopping cart; or initiating display of an item detail page related tothe client selection.
 2. A system, comprising: at least one computingdevice configured to at least: generate an administrator user interfaceconfigured to facilitate obtaining an indication of a subject appearingin at least one broadcast; cause the administrator user interface betransmitted to an administrator client device associated with anadministrator; detect a depiction of the subject in the broadcast byapplying a subject recognition algorithm to video data of the broadcast;identify a collection of at least one of a plurality of items associatedwith the subject in response to detecting the depiction of the subjectin the broadcast; generate a client user interface associated with anelectronic commerce system, the client user interface comprising acollection display panel, the collection display panel including thecollection of the at least one of the plurality of items associated withthe subject; and cause the client user interface to be transmitted to aclient device associated with a viewer of the at least one broadcast. 3.The system of claim 2, wherein the at least one computing device isfurther configured to at least: obtain a timestamp corresponding to whenthe subject is presented in the at least one broadcast; and associatethe timestamp with the collection corresponding to the subject.
 4. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the at least one computing device is furtherconfigured to at least: obtain a selection of the at least one of theplurality of items in the collection display panel via the client userinterface rendered on the client device; and perform at least one of aplurality of actions based at least in part on the selection.
 5. Thesystem of claim 4, wherein the action comprises initiating a purchase ofthe at least one of the plurality of items corresponding to theselection.
 6. The system of claim 4, wherein the action comprises addingthe at least one of the plurality of items to an item list.
 7. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the collection comprises a subset of items.8. The system of claim 2, wherein the collection display panel isrendered in the client device and the at least one broadcast is renderedin a second client device.
 9. The system of claim 2, wherein thecollection display panel is rendered in a first portion of the clientdevice and the at least one broadcast is rendered in a second portion ofthe client device.
 10. A method, comprising: generating, by a computingdevice, an administrator user interface configured to facilitateobtaining an indication of a subject appearing in a broadcast; causing,by the computing device, the administrator user interface to betransmitted to an administrator client device associated with anadministrator; detecting, by the computing device, a depiction of thesubject in the broadcast by applying a subject recognition algorithm tovideo data of the broadcast; identifying, by the computing device, inresponse to detecting the depiction of the subject in the broadcast, acollection of at least one of a plurality of items associated with thesubject; generating, by the computing device, a client user interfaceassociated with an electronic commerce system, the client user interfacecomprising a collection display panel, the collection display panelincluding the collection of the at least one of the plurality of itemsassociated with the subject; and causing, by the computing device, theclient user interface to be transmitted to a client device associatedwith a viewer of the broadcast.
 11. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising: obtaining, by the computing device, a selection of the atleast one of the plurality of items in the collection display panel viathe client user interface rendered in the client device; and performing,by the computing device, at least one action based at least in part onthe selection.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least oneaction comprises initiating a purchase of the at least one of theplurality of items.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least oneaction comprises adding the at least one of the plurality of items to alist.
 14. The method of claim 10, further comprising: obtaining, by thecomputing device, a timestamp corresponding to when the subject appearsin the broadcast; and associating, by the computing device, thetimestamp with the collection associated with the subject.
 15. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the collection display panel is rendered asa sidebar to the broadcast in the client device.
 16. The method of claim10, wherein the collection display panel is rendered in the clientdevice and the broadcast is rendered in a second client device.
 17. Themethod of claim 10, further comprising sending a plurality ofcollections to facilitate navigation among many collections in theclient device.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim1, wherein the indicator is obtained from an input received by anadministrator application via the administrator user interface renderedin the administrator client device.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the administrator clientdevice is configured to execute an administrator application tofacilitate providing the indicator to the at least one computing device.20. The system of claim 2, wherein the subject recognition algorithmcomprises a facial recognition algorithm.
 21. The method of claim 10,wherein the subject recognition algorithm comprises a facial recognitionalgorithm.
 22. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least onecomputing device is further configured to at least: obtain an imagecorresponding the subject appearing in the performance via theadministrator user interface rendered on the administrator clientdevice; and wherein the subject recognition algorithm is applied to thevideo data of the broadcast as a function of the image corresponding tothe subject.